Shmup - Game preview / gameplay
9OK, yes, Shmup is kinda a weird name. Still, as they say, weird tends to be good, or at least interesting. And Shmup is easily both.
There's not much you can get an impression of with a name like "Shmup" other than thinking it might have something to do with little blue men, or at least their distant cousins. Not taking the name into consideration though, Shmup is an interesting vertical shooter, one of many in this fine tradition of games.
Shmup looks great, and though the grays and subdued palette might look a bit drab at first, it all works well together to present you a good-looking game. The graphics in-game can indeed be a bit repetetive, especially the scrolling landscape beneath your ship, but the ships themselves look fantastic. There's a whole lot of detail in them, and there's a fairly wide enough variety of ships that you'll be encountering new ones almost each level. Further, with the different ways that they move about, you'll almost have no idea what to expect. In a word, the graphics are professional. There are no corners cut here, the space ships don't simply rotate using a static graphic, no, they've got flashing lights, burning jets, and nice little animations on each like blinking lights or spinning spokes that make each come alive.
The sounds are great too, with the music being a pleasant throwback to the arcade games and vertical shooters of yore. You'll also hear the standard shooting, explosions, and the sort as you go through the level making it that much more aesthetically (and acoustically) pleasing.
In vertical shooters, there's rarely much difference in controls. You move around with your arrow keys, and you shoot with the Z key. Still, despite having such simple controls the game plays really well. As any aficionado of vertical shooters will tell you, you don't really need much more than those keys to make a good game when it comes to this genre. Unfortunately, you don't have any secondary weapons or the sort to add to your arsenal, but for the most part your primary weapon will do well enough.
Like any other vertical shooter, Shmup has you controlling a lone craft facing off against wave upon wave of enemy baddies. You'll dodge bullets, grab powerups, and shoot down anything that comes your way. Granted, it's not quite bullet-hell as other games like this, but there's enough flying about to perhaps make this bullet-hell-lite. Along the way, you'll grab powerups, increase your EXP to do better damage, and generally get more powerful and more capable allowing you to blast more and more baddies.
All in all, a great game. Simple, yes, but definitely a solid game with great gameplay that'll keep you entertained.
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